Movie Tickets Are More Expensive Than Ever

Important news from the No Duh Institute of Obvious Facts: Movie tickets cost a lot of money these days! They cost more than they ever have before, in fact. The average movie ticket in America cost $7.96 in 2012, a three-cent increase from the year previous. To which we say, $7.96??? That's a steal! What is everyone talking about, movie tickets are cheap! Relatively speaking, I mean. Compared to the thirteen or so dollars that a movie ticket costs in New York City, eight bucks sounds like a good damn deal. Still, for most parts of the country, eight dollars is a lot to pay for what could very possibly be Dark Shadows or This Means War. And the tickets cost even more if they're 3D/IMAX or whatever. Imagine paying almost $20 for The Hobbit! It's just too much money. A family going to the movies now is a pretty expensive proposition. No wonder we keep hearing about people opting to stay in and watch something at home instead. Even when you factor in the cost of fancy TVs and Blu-Rays and Netflixes and all that other home entertainment junk, it probably still comes out to less money than regularly bothering with the multiplex. But the pull of the theater is strong. After all, I paid money to see Beastly. Meaning maybe people will fork over the cash no matter want. The heart wants what it wants. And that day my heart wanted Beastly, right there and then. [Deadline]

Speaking of money, you know who just got very rich? Or rather, richer than he already was? Don Johnson, of all people. The production company that made Nash Bridges all them years ago has settled a lawsuit with the show's star for $19 million. Three years ago, Johnson successfully sued Rysher Entertainment, claiming that he was Rysher was contractually required to make Johnson half-owner of the show after 66 episodes, but failed to do so, even though almost twice that many episodes got made. The jury awarded him $50 million. But then things got caught up in appeals and whatnot and so both parties have agreed to give it up and settle on the $19 million. Not a bad haul from freaking Nash Bridges. I'd be happy to get $19 from Nash Bridges. In related news, Jodi Lyn O'Keefe found a quarter in her couch cushions. [The Hollywood Reporter]

AMC's The Walking Dead came roaring, or moaning I guess har har zombie jokes, back last night, beginning the second half of its third season with a whopping 12.3 million viewers and a 6.1 rating. That's huge! I mean, it's big for network, let alone basic cable. And it's the highest number of viewers and the highest rating the show has ever had. So this thing is a big, big hit, folks. But that doesn't mean it will necessarily stay that way. Starting in the fourth season, the show will be overseen by its third show runner, as Glen Mazzara, who replaced original head Frank Darabont, was recently let go. So maybe the show will continue to flourish, but maybe it will flounder. Whatever happens, The Walking Dead will at least always have been huge at one point. Meanwhile, someone picked up a Rubcion DVD set and looked at it halfheartedly before tossing it back in the bin and buying Psych season two instead. [Entertainment Weekly]

The CW has given three of its shows early renewals for next season, so set your teen to stun. (I have no idea what that means.) Arrow, The Vampire Diaries, and Supernatural have all been renewed for 2013-2014. This will be Arrow's second season, TVD's fifth, and Supernatural's forty-third. That show has been on for a long time! But that's OK. It's a fun show (I have listed the three series in ascending order of quality, with a huge step between Arrow and TVD, because Arrow is pretty terrible), and, of course, we still need to see the whole arc where Sam and Dean realize they're not actually biological brothers so therefore it's not gross for them to make out, which they then precede to do for the rest of the season. Once that happens, the show can end. But not until then. And The CW knows that. [Deadline]

Les Miz dog-whistler Amanda Seyfried is in talks to join the cast of Seth "[INSERT RANDOM JOKE]" MacFarlane's next movie, a Western comedy called A Million Ways to Die in the West. She'll play MacFarlane's girlfriend, who leaves him after he wusses out of a gunfight. Then he goes to learn gun-fighting from Charlize Theron, and probably falls in love with her. So Seth MacFarlane has set himself up with Amanda Seyfried and Charlize Theron. Seth MacFarlane. And it's all about a girl leaving him for an incredibly superficial reason and then he meets another hot lady. Gruh. Men in comedy, folks. [The Hollywood Reporter]

The BAFTAs were last night, and here is a list of who won. It's everyone you expect — Hathaway, Christoph Waltz, Daniel Day-Lewis, Argo — and then some pleasant surprises, like Emmanuelle Riva for Amour and, well, actually that's kinda it for surprises. Ah, well. Still happy for her. Might she actually have some Oscar momentum?? No. Probably not. Sigh. One of the Js will get it. [Entertainment Weekly]